Car-coupling



(No Model.)

W. DODGE.

GAR GOUPLING.

No. 466,160. Patented Dec. 29, 1891.A

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Z 6 2 7 A TTOHNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OEE-ICE'.

WILLIS DODGE, OF BLAINE, MAINE.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 466,160, dated December 29, 1891.

Application letl March 25,1891. Serial No. 386,352- (No inodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIS DODGE, of Blaine, vin the county of Aroostook and State of Maine, have invented a new and Improved Car-Coupler, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in car-couplers, and more especially to certain attachments which may be applied to the ordinary link-and-pin coupler; and the object of my invention is to produce a simple and efficient device which may be easily applied to a common formof coupler, and which will permit cars to be automatically coupled without the necessity of a brakeman stepping between them. To this end my invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a broken sideelevation of a carcoupler provided with attachments embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a broken vertical longitudinal section of the same on the line 2 2 in Fig, 3. Fig. 3 is a front end view of the coupler, partly in section, on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2. Fig. et is a detail sectionalview showing a spring-plate in position to hold up a coupling-pin. Fig. 5 is a broken side elevation of the sliding bar and the lever mechanism thereon, showiugthe same in position for 0perating a lifter. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the sliding bar with the lever mechanism in a raised position, and Fig. 7 is a broken detail view of a preferred way of securing the spring to the sliding side bar.

The draw-head 10 is of the usual construction, having the ordinary recess 11 in the front end, which is adapted to receive a link 12, and the draw-head also has a vertical bore extending through it to receive a coupling"l their rear ends are pivoted toopposite sides of the draw-head, as shown at 2l, and one of which is elongated, as shown at 22, so as to project upward above the point at which it ispivoted. The members 20 extend forward beyond the front end of the coupler, and are bent, as shownat 23, so as to extend upward in front of the draw-head, and at their upper ends they are united by a cross member 24, as best shown in Fig. 3, which cross member is slightly concaved, so that it will prevent a link from slipping from it. The length of the vertical portions 23 of the lifter is such that when the lifter is raised the cross member 24 will come opposite the mouth of the coupler, andthe lifter is ordinarily held downward,

as shown in Fig. 1, by a spring 25, which is secured to the draw-head in the rear of the lifter, and which presses forward upon the elongated end 22 of the lifter.

A bar 26 is held to slide upon one side ot' I the draw-head 10 above the lifter 19, the'bar.

moving longitudinally in keepers 27, and the front end of the bar is formed into a shank 2S, which shank extends forward through a recess in one side of Ythe draw-head and terminates inv a button 29, and the bar is normally pressed forward, so that the button 29 will be well in advance of the draw-head, by means of a spiral spring 30, which is coiled around v the sliding bar 26, the arm being pivoted at its rear end, as shown at 32, and the arm is IOS normally held upward, as shown in Fig. 4, by means of a spring 33, which is secured to the rear end of the bar 26, and which presses upon the rear upper portion of the arm 31. The free end of the arm 3l is provided on the under side with a rearwardly-inelined cam 34, which is adapted to project beneath the lower edge of the bar 26, and above the cam is a recess 35, in which is pivoted one end of a link 36, and the link extends upward and is pivoted at its upper end to a sliding bar 37, which is held in suit-able keepers, and which is recessed, as shown at 37, so that the end of the link may fit closely and still be permitted to move. The front end of the bar 37 is adapted to project beyond the front end of the square portion of the sliding bar 26 and to contact with ashoulder 38 near the front end of the draw-head, as best shown in Fig. 1. i

The operation of the coupler is as follows: lVhen `two cars come together, the draw-head of one coupler will strike the button 29 of the other,as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and this will push rearward the sliding bar 2G, and the cam 34, acting on the elongated end 22 of the lifter 19, will cause the front end of the lifter to swing upward, so as to lift the linkl2 and guide it into the draw-head, and -before the two draw-heads come together the bar 2G will have moved backward far enough so that the bar 37 cannot contact with the shoulder 38 ofthe draw-head and the spring 33 will raise `the arm 3l and the cam 31, as shown in Fig. 4, thus permitting the lifter to drop, so that its forward end cannot be ni pped between the draw-heads. As the d raw-heads continue to advance toward each other one draw-head will strike the' bent end 15 of the plate 14, thus pushing the plate inward until the recess in the plate comes beneath the coupling-pin 13, and the pin will then drop through the `plate and through the link 12, as shown in Fig. 2. Then cars are to beuncoupled,

the pin 13 is removed and the plate 14 springs forward, and when the draw-heads are not in contact the bar 26 is pushed forward by the spring 30, so that the front end of the bar 37 will contact with the shoulder 38 on the drawhead, and this causes the link 36 to assume nearly a vertical position and to push the free end of the arm 3l downward, so that the cam 3l will be in position to operate the lifter.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a car-coupler, the combination, with a draw-head having a spring-pressed plate therein, said plate having a projecting forward end and a recess to receive a pin, of a swinging lifter pivoted to the draw-head and adapted to extend in front of the same, a sliding bar mounted on the draw-head and extending in front of the same, and a lever mechanism mounted on the bar and adapted to operate the lifter, substantially as described.

2. In a car-coupler of the character described, the combination, with a draw-head and a swinging lifter having an elongated end, of a sliding bar mounted on the drawhead above the lifter and arranged to project in front of the draw-head, an arm pivoted on the bar and having a depending cam to engage the end ot' the lifter, a sliding bar pivoted on the main bar and adapted to engage a shoul- `der on the draw-head, and a link connecting the smaller of I[he sliding bars and the arm, substantially as described.

In a car-coupler of the character rdescribed, the combination, with a draw-head, of a lifter plvoted `to oppositesides of the draw-headand having a bent end adapted to swing in front of the same and having its rear end elongated, a spring-pressed main bar slidably mounted on the draw-head above the lifter and arranged to project in, front ofrthe draw-head, a spring-pressed arm pivoted on the main bar and adapted to engage the elongated end of the lifter, a sliding bar mounted on the main bar and adapted to engage a shoulder on the draw-head, and a link connecting the sliding bar and the ca1n-arm,sub stantially as described.

VILLIS DODGE.

XVitnesses:

A. O. NUTTER, O. D. NOBLE. 

